A photo taken on November 4, 2019 shows a subway train crossing a railway bridge over the Han River in front of the skyline of Seoul’s Yeouido business district.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Monday, led by a 2% rise in Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average, as investors awaited decisions from the region’s central banks in a week.
This week, three central banks, the Bank of Korea, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and the Reserve Bank of India, are scheduled to announce their interest rate decisions.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the Bank of Korea and the central bank to cut interest rates, while the central bank will keep them low.
The Bank of Korea is expected to cut its base interest rate from 3.5% to 3.25% on Friday, while the RBNZ is expected to cut it by 50 basis points to 4.75% on Wednesday.
Back in August, the RBNZ surprised economists by cutting its policy rate from 5.5% to 5.25%.
The only outliers were South Korea’s Kospi, which fell 0.28%, and the small-cap Kosdaq, which rose 0.37%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.11%.
However, Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 22,640, below HSI’s last closing price of 22,736.87.
Stocks rose in the United States on Friday after a better-than-expected jobs report gave investors confidence in the health of the economy.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 254,000 in September, the data showed, far exceeding the 150,000 increase expected by economists compiled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, despite expectations that it would remain stable at 4.2%.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.22%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.81% to a record closing price of 42,352.75.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
